Desert Treasure

[t0l]

He didn't remember what it felt like to have his first milkshake, but it sure as hell didn't feel like this.

Tal watched as thin, pink-colored fluid slowly ran down the reflective innards of his brown drink pouch, down and down until it reached his mouth. He grimaced a bit as the liquid came into contact with and diffused over all nine thousand of his taste buds, getting a load of iodine water purification tablet with a hint of strawberry, but nonetheless appreciated the idea of having a beverage that passed for a milkshake, or at the very least looked like one, out in the boondocks.

It was his personal reward for personally planting eleven cameras out of twenty-three total earlier in the day, as part of what had to have been the most absurd idea he'd ever heard, a dubious reward that had somehow made it's way down over his chin strap and onto his camouflaged plate carrier. He peeled the pouch away from his lips and leaned back against the door of his portable house, looking down to find multiple bright pink spots dotting the center of his chest amongst all the tan smears he'd purposefully made as part of his effort to make more "desert-appropriate" camouflage on a particularly boring day.

Crackling emerged from his right hand as he squeezed the now empty brown plastic packaging up into a small ball, setting it aside on the step next to him as he leaned back, kicked his feet up onto an empty crate of ammunition, and enjoyed a Delta sunset, bringing his now unloaded carbine up against his side to emulate the feeling of being loved.

Honestly, at this point, it wasn't that bad anymore.

"Either that, or I’ve stopped caring," he thought, taking a deep breath as the skies gradually turned a darker shade of blue.

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